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What Does the “Mingling with the Seed of Men” in Daniel Mean?

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What Does the “Mingling with the Seed of Men” in Daniel Mean?

Hi C____,

Thank you for your question. You ask:

The short answer to your question about iron being mixed with clay is that the iron, in this case, symbolizes spiritually the Word of God which will “break in pieces and subdue all things”, and the clay spiritually is the lies of mankind which are being mixed with the Truth of the Word of God by all the religions of this world, and abused by this world to subdue all men.  But the two do not mix and will not endure.

Dan 2:40  And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.

Before we get into the spiritual significance of this dream of King Nebuchadnezzar, we must remember that the word of God, like the pillar of fire at the Red Sea, is light to the Lord’s people, and at the same time it is darkness to His enemies. That Pillar of fire is Christ and His words, which this world cannot receive or understand:

Exo 14:19  And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:
Exo 14:20  And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.

In other words, the Word of God always has both a positive and a negative application. It is all positive to our new man, while at the same time, it is the death and destruction of our rebellious old man.

That principle applies to every part of this dream, including Nebuchadnezzar himself, as well as the ‘feet’, the ‘ten toes’ and the ‘iron’ and ‘clay’. Nebuchadnezzar begins as a type of our old man, but in the end, after spending seven years eating literal grass like an ox, he repents of his self-righteous pride, and then he typifies our new man who acknowledges that he is indeed nothing more than a beast:

Ecc 3:18  I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
Ecc 3:19  For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.
Ecc 3:20  All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

Dan 4:34  And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:
Dan 4:35  And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
Dan 4:36  At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellers and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me.
Dan 4:37  Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.

“I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me” typifies our own resurrection from the dead which we are living now in “earnest” as a pledge of “the redemption of the purchased possession”, which is given to all who are blessed to have a part in the “wedding supper of the Lamb” (Rev 19 – also known as “the first resurrection”:

Rev 19:9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest [Greek: pledge, down payment] of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction and humiliation in chapter four typifies his and our own humiliation and the destruction of the kingdom of our old man, which is built upon spiritual “iron mixed with miry clay”.

Mankind, in and of Himself, “has no preeminence above a beast”. In other words, mankind in and of himself is nothing more than “miry clay”.

Gen 3:19  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

His Creator has plans for mankind which He does not have for beasts, and our Creator died for us as part of that creation process as He continues to “make man in His image”. The Lord ceasing from His works typifies our ceasing from our own sinful works, as we are by His hand, being “conformed to the image of His Son”:

Rom 8:29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Spiritually, the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream symbolizes all who are in Adam. Physically and dispensationally the body parts below the head are not Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom, but are kingdoms which will come after his kingdom:

Dan 2:38  And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine [Nebuchadnezzar’s] hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
Dan 2:39  And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
Dan 2:40  And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.

The kingdom that conquered the kingdom of Babylon was the Persian empire of Cyrus the great, and his kingdom was in turn conquered by the Greek empire of Alexander the great, whose kingdom was divided among his four generals, and eventually those kingdoms were overshadowed or conquered by the Roman empire, which would become the fourth world-ruling empire.

This “iron” Roman Empire, and the end time kingdom of “iron mixed with miry clay”, are the negative application of ‘iron’. Here is the positive application of “iron [which] breaks in pieces and subdues all things”:

Rev 19:11  And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
Rev 19:12  His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
Rev 19:13  And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
Rev 19:14  And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
Rev 19:15  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

“The sword of His mouth” and the “rod of iron” are both types of “the word of His mouth” with which He will “break in pieces and subdue all things” to Himself:

Rev 2:26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

Rev 19:20  And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Rev 19:21  And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

The “fire burning with brimstone” of “the lake of fire” is the same as “the sword… which… proceeds out of His mouth”, and both are His fiery words with which He will “rule the nations with a rod of iron”:

Psa 2:9  Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

Rev 2:27  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

Rev 12:5  And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

Rev 19:15  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

Deu 33:2  And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Clearly the Word of God is symbolized in scripture as both ‘iron’ and ‘fire’. In Nebuchadnezzar’s dream the symbolism of ‘iron’ is mixed with the symbolism of ‘miry clay’, and we are told:

 Dan 2:43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

You asked: “…what is this “mingling with the seed of men” that Daniel speaks about?” (End Quote). I have shown that the inward application is the mingling of the Words of God with the lies of mankind, so clearly demonstrated in the fact that so-called Christians the world over observe pagan holidays and call them Christian holidays in direct contradiction to all of these verses of scripture:

Deu 12:29  When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;
Deu 12:30  Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
Deu 12:31  Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.

Yet leading Christian ministers will get on international television and tell those in their charge, “We know these days have pagan origins, but we have ‘Christianized’ them”. In other words, “We are going to follow the ways of the pagans and ‘do so unto the Lord [our] God’. We don’t care what the Lord says about how we should worship Him.”

These words of warning from the holy spirit in the New Testament are water off a duck’s back to the average so-called ‘Christian’:

Gal 4:10  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11  I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

The pressures of society and family to conform to “the traditions of men” are far more feared by most Christians than are these words of God. The name of God is mixed with pagan doctrines of Santa Claus and the Ishtar bunny. That is about as clear a spiritual example of mixing spiritual iron with spiritual clay as one can have. It lasts just exactly as long as it is preordained to last, and then it will be destroyed by the ‘stone cut out of the mountain without hands’, just another symbol for Christ and His ‘iron… fiery’ Word.

Col 2:6  As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
Col 2:7  Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
Col 2:8  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. The “Christ” Paul speaks of here did not “observe days, months, times or years” [Gal 4:10]:

Mat 12:1  At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.
Mat 12:2  But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.
Mat 12:3  But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;
Mat 12:4  How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?
Mat 12:5  Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?
Mat 12:6  But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.
Mat 12:7  But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
Mat 12:8  For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

Joh 5:16  And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
Joh 5:17  But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. 
Joh 5:18  Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

Christ broke the most sacred day of the law of Moses, and that is the Christ Paul refers to when he tells us:

Col 2:6  As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:

If the Lord gives us the strength to “so walk in Him”, then we, too, “shall be hated of all men”, because like Him we are far more concerned with being obedient to our Lord and His Father than we are to a society which observes pagan holidays and keeps the traditions of men in direct rebellion against Him and His ‘iron’ words which will “break in pieces and subdue” every thought that exalts itself against the knowledge of God:

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Being “hated of all men for [Christ’s] name’s sake” is the destruction of the entire image of Daniel 2. It is the progressive death of our old man as the ‘stone cut out without hands’ gradually grows and becomes the kingdom of God within us, as it destroys all the nations within us which exalt themselves above the knowledge of God:

2Co 10:4  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
2Co 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
2Co 10:6  And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

“The good seed [of the parable of the wheat and the tares] are the children of the kingdom” who speak the words of truth of the kingdom of God:

Mat 13:36  Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.
Mat 13:37  He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
Mat 13:38  The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

“The children of the wicked” are all the adherents to all the religions which exalt themselves above the knowledge of God.

The outward dispensational fulfillment of all these verses will be fulfilled in us only “when [our] obedience is fulfilled [and we have] endured to the end… being hated of all men [in] this present time.” Outwardly and physically “they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men” was being done by Nebuchadnezzar who, along with the Assyrians whom he led, were the pioneers in transplanting vast number of immigrant populations to destroy any sense of patriotism in those they conquered:

2Ki 17:23  Until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.
2Ki 17:24  And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.

Dan 2:43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, Israelite nor Gentile, male nor female, bond nor free, and there is certainly no ethnic nor color of skin differences. In Christ we can trust each other not to kill, commit adultery, nor steal from each other. However, it is foolish indeed to expect any of those virtues from “the seed of men, the seed of the wicked one”. In the same manner, it is foolish to “mingle… the seed of men”, and then expect them to just get along and love each other when Christ has not yet set up His kingdom within the hearts of every one of them.

I hope this has answered your question. If you still have a question, let me hear from you.

I am including the links to the two-part studies on the metal ‘iron’. I encourage you to read all the studies on all the metals of scripture. The positive and negative applications of all the metals, numbers, colors, and beasts have all been spiritually explained in great detail over the years. As you are given the time to do so, please check them all out.

Metals – Iron, Part 1

Spiritual Significance of Metals – Iron, Part 2

Your brother in Christ,

Mike

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